Last questions before sending I-129F

[mondix 12]

Hi everyone--

I've quietly been looking at many of your journey's, which has given me great hope and excitement for me! I am just about to send off the package, but naturally, I have a few detailed questions that I'm hoping you can answer. Below is the itemized list of documents included in my packet, as indicated on my I129-F cover letter:

Contents include:

· Payment in the amount of $340

· G-1145 E-Notification of Acceptance Petition

· I-129F

· I-129F Supplement: Part 2, Question 34.a, explanation of meeting in person

· Birth certificate, petitioner

· G-325A and photograph of petitioner

· G-325A and photograph of beneficiary

· Letters of intent to marry, petitioner and beneficiary

· Proof of having met in person within the last 2 years

o Photographs

o Passport stamps, boarding passes, travel itineraries, hotel receipts

· Proof of ongoing relationship

o Western Union receipt showing financial support of beneficiary

o Beneficiary’s Digicel phone bill receipts and payments made by petitioner

o Petitioner’s ATT call and SMS text logs

o Chat records

o SMS records

o Facebook screenshots

o Skype screenshots

Here are my questions:

1. Is there a particular font and size that USCIS prefers for the cover letter, fiancé(e) letters of intent, and I-129F supplement?

2. My passport can be used to show two things: my US citizenship and my ongoing travels to my fiancé's home country since 2008. Should I print two copies and place them in each section, or will the reviewing officer refer back to it on his/her own as needed? Since my passport alone does not validate my citizenship (it's only valid for 4 more years) should I move the passport images it entirely to the "Proof of having met in the past two years" section, and leave my birth certificate to prove citizenship?

3. I read that staples are a no-no, are paper clips fine to keep each section together?

4. One Visa Journey member placed post-it notes on the first page of each section as a guide for the officer - is this a good idea?

5. I get this idea of "front-loading" the officer with information, but have I included too much evidence?

Thank you all for your help. If you have any "last minute detail" bits of advice, any and everything would be greatly appreciated!

xoxo

[mondix 12]

Also: How many copies of the G325A do we send? 1 for each of us or 4 for each of us?

[chiggins82 88]

Here are my questions:

1. Is there a particular font and size that USCIS prefers for the cover letter, fiancé(e) letters of intent, and I-129F supplement?

Don't think so, I just used default 11pt font... Arial or something similar and easy to read.

2. My passport can be used to show two things: my US citizenship and my ongoing travels to my fiancé's home country since 2008. Should I print two copies and place them in each section, or will the reviewing officer refer back to it on his/her own as needed? Since my passport alone does not validate my citizenship (it's only valid for 4 more years) should I move the passport images it entirely to the "Proof of having met in the past two years" section, and leave my birth certificate to prove citizenship?

- We just put in both passports and then USC birth certificate to show citizenship... Not sure, but I think either would work.

3. I read that staples are a no-no, are paper clips fine to keep each section together?

- Read this two and we used the two hole punch and the prong fastener (I think that is what they are called...) it's in the visa guide.

4. One Visa Journey member placed post-it notes on the first page of each section as a guide for the officer - is this a good idea?

- I did this. Honestly, was a pain in the butt, but figured best to be organized. Up to you. I would include a table of contents of some sort in the cover letter.

5. I get this idea of "front-loading" the officer with information, but have I included too much evidence?

- Really similar to what we included. We were approved. Some countries look for this and others don't. Ours doesn't, but again we had it so figured we might as well send.

G325A - Send one for each petitioner and beneficiary.

You look like you are pretty much set. You can double check instructions to be sure, but your package sounds very similar to mine and others that I have seen listed on here.

Oh, one thing I don't see is passport/Visa style photos. You will need those with the G325A for both of you.

Good luck!

Edited September 4, 2014 by chiggins82

[icebreaker15 4]

you are well grounded, u have everything cover so far that i read, so u can send in ur package

[KayDeeCee 4,903]

Here are my questions:

1. Is there a particular font and size that USCIS prefers for the cover letter, fiancé(e) letters of intent, and I-129F supplement? No. Just make sure it is legible.

2. My passport can be used to show two things: my US citizenship and my ongoing travels to my fiancé's home country since 2008. Should I print two copies and place them in each section, or will the reviewing officer refer back to it on his/her own as needed? Since my passport alone does not validate my citizenship (it's only valid for 4 more years) should I move the passport images it entirely to the "Proof of having met in the past two years" section, and leave my birth certificate to prove citizenship? This is a bit confusing. Your US passport DOES prove your US citizenship. You can use the US passport(copy of all pages) OR a copy of US birth certificate. Both are not required. If using the birth certificate, then just include the pages of the passport that have the stamps for proof of meeting.

3. I read that staples are a no-no, are paper clips fine to keep each section together? Yes. Use paperclips instead of staples. http://www.uscis.gov/forms/forms-and-fees/general-tips-assembling-applications-mailing

4. One Visa Journey member placed post-it notes on the first page of each section as a guide for the officer - is this a good idea? You can, but not really needed. Just list your contents in order on the cover letter. You can separate different types of documents with large paperclips. They will take apart your package and place it in one of their folders how they want it to be anyway.

5. I get this idea of "front-loading" the officer with information, but have I included too much evidence? You do not need hundreds of pages. Just a sampling of evidence spread out through the length of your relationship will do.

Thank you all for your help. If you have any "last minute detail" bits of advice, any and everything would be greatly appreciated!

xoxo

[mondix 12]

Thank you both for your replies!

The passport style photos are in plastic ziplock bags attached to the corresponding G325A.

I placed each photo in a plastic zlplock bag, wrote our names in pencil on the back our photo and placed a label on the inside each back bag i.e. "Photo of Travis ----" "Photo of "Taishim ----"

[mondix 12]

Thanks for your reply KayDeeCee!

2. My passport can be used to show two things: my US citizenship and my ongoing travels to my fiancé's home country since 2008. Should I print two copies and place them in each section, or will the reviewing officer refer back to it on his/her own as needed? Since my passport alone does not validate my citizenship (it's only valid for 4 more years) should I move the passport images it entirely to the "Proof of having met in the past two years" section, and leave my birth certificate to prove citizenship? This is a bit confusing. Your US passport DOES prove your US citizenship. You can use the US passport(copy of all pages) OR a copy of US birth certificate. Both are not required. If using the birth certificate, then just include the pages of the passport that have the stamps for proof of meeting.

***My passport expires in 2018, and therefore is not valid long enough to prove my citizenship. I read that it has to have at least 5 years of validity remaining in order to prove citizenship, please correct me if I am wrong. I originally ordered the passport it behind my birth certificate, but I moved it into the section titled "Proof of meeting in the last two years." I was asking if you guys think I should print two copies to place one in each section, but I think that's overkill. I've chosen to keep every page included, as over the years the officers have stamped out of order and on random pages.

[Zedayn 486]

Hi everyone--

I've quietly been looking at many of your journey's, which has given me great hope and excitement for me! I am just about to send off the package, but naturally, I have a few detailed questions that I'm hoping you can answer. Below is the itemized list of documents included in my packet, as indicated on my I129-F cover letter:

Contents include:

· Payment in the amount of $340

· G-1145 E-Notification of Acceptance Petition

· I-129F

· I-129F Supplement: Part 2, Question 34.a, explanation of meeting in person

· Birth certificate, petitioner

· G-325A and photograph of petitioner

· G-325A and photograph of beneficiary

· Letters of intent to marry, petitioner and beneficiary

· Proof of having met in person within the last 2 years

o Photographs

o Passport stamps, boarding passes, travel itineraries, hotel receipts

· Proof of ongoing relationship

o Western Union receipt showing financial support of beneficiary

o Beneficiary’s Digicel phone bill receipts and payments made by petitioner

o Petitioner’s ATT call and SMS text logs

o Chat records

o SMS records

o Facebook screenshots

o Skype screenshots

Here are my questions:

1. Is there a particular font and size that USCIS prefers for the cover letter, fiancé(e) letters of intent, and I-129F supplement?

2. My passport can be used to show two things: my US citizenship and my ongoing travels to my fiancé's home country since 2008. Should I print two copies and place them in each section, or will the reviewing officer refer back to it on his/her own as needed? Since my passport alone does not validate my citizenship (it's only valid for 4 more years) should I move the passport images it entirely to the "Proof of having met in the past two years" section, and leave my birth certificate to prove citizenship?

3. I read that staples are a no-no, are paper clips fine to keep each section together?

4. One Visa Journey member placed post-it notes on the first page of each section as a guide for the officer - is this a good idea?

5. I get this idea of "front-loading" the officer with information, but have I included too much evidence?

Thank you all for your help. If you have any "last minute detail" bits of advice, any and everything would be greatly appreciated!

xoxo

1. No preference for size or font but it should be easily readable. I used Times New Roman font size 12.

2. If you are using your passport for proof of citizenship, and again as proof of meeting, then you should have 2 different copies: one for proving citizenship (requires copies of all pages), and one that just has a copy of your bio page plus passport stamps. Your passport alone WILL prove your citizenship...the 5 year validity requirement refers to the time period from issue date to expiration date, NOT the remaining time left until it expires. Of course if you are using your birth certificate, no need to include the passport for proof of citizenship.

3. Paper clips are best to use to keep like minded things together, and keep your entire petition together with one large paperclip.

4. Post it notes are not necessary. Your cover letter serves as the "guide" when your petition is received.

5. When front loading your petition, make sure you are including QUALITY proof of relationship, not just hundreds of pages of chat logs. When I prepared my petition, I had about 40 pages of evidence of relationship.

[KayDeeCee 4,903]

Thanks for your reply KayDeeCee!

2. My passport can be used to show two things: my US citizenship and my ongoing travels to my fiancé's home country since 2008. Should I print two copies and place them in each section, or will the reviewing officer refer back to it on his/her own as needed? Since my passport alone does not validate my citizenship (it's only valid for 4 more years) should I move the passport images it entirely to the "Proof of having met in the past two years" section, and leave my birth certificate to prove citizenship? This is a bit confusing. Your US passport DOES prove your US citizenship. You can use the US passport(copy of all pages) OR a copy of US birth certificate. Both are not required. If using the birth certificate, then just include the pages of the passport that have the stamps for proof of meeting.

***My passport expires in 2018, and therefore is not valid long enough to prove my citizenship. I read that it has to have at least 5 years of validity remaining in order to prove citizenship, please correct me if I am wrong. I originally ordered the passport it behind my birth certificate, but I moved it into the section titled "Proof of meeting in the last two years." I was asking if you guys think I should print two copies to place one in each section, but I think that's overkill. I've chosen to keep every page included, as over the years the officers have stamped out of order and on random pages.

The passport needed to have at least 5 years of validity when issued, not remaining time before it expires. If it was issued and valid for 10 years, and unexpired but only had 6 months until it expired, it could still be used. I do not believe they even issue passports with less a 5 year validity. It is 10 years for those 16 and over, and 5 years for age 15 and under.

Edited September 4, 2014 by KayDeeCee

[Zedayn 486]

***My passport expires in 2018, and therefore is not valid long enough to prove my citizenship.

As I mentioned previously, your passport needs to have a validity of at least 5 years. This is from ISSUE date to EXPIRATION date. So if your issue date was at least 2013 or earlier, you are fine.

[mondix 12]

Zedayn-- Thank you for clarifying the bit about my passport. It was issued in 2008, so it does then establish my citizenship, but I will only include one copy of all stamped pages to show my visits to my fiance's country, as I have also included my birth certificate to establish my USC.

My proof of ongoing relationship is also comprised of about 40 pages - and I've taken care to only include quality representations of our communication with one another.

Thank you again, everyone!

[Zedayn 486]

Zedayn-- Thank you for clarifying the bit about my passport. It was issued in 2008, so it does then establish my citizenship, but I will only include one copy of all stamped pages to show my visits to my fiance's country, as I have also included my birth certificate to establish my USC.

My proof of ongoing relationship is also comprised of about 40 pages - and I've taken care to only include quality representations of our communication with one another.

Thank you again, everyone!

Make sure you include the bio page of your passport along with your stamped pages.

[KayDeeCee 4,903]

Make sure you include the bio page of your passport along with your stamped pages.

Ah yes. Thanks, I forgot that detail.

[mondix 12]

Thanks, guys! The bio page is included!

[msbau764 245]

One last addition to the topic. Can the passport copies be in black and white??? I want to send my I-129F today. My birth certificate is riddled with errors.